Ritual launches digital restaurant week

Ritual, a Canadian food-ordering app that debuted in Chicago last year, is trying to attract customers and attention by creating what it describes as the first on-demand restaurant week. From now through Oct. 13, customers who use Apple Pay to order food through Ritual at any of 250 participating Chicago restaurants will receive up to 50 percent off certain items.

Participating restaurants include Firefin Poke, Dollop Coffee, Roti and Freshii. Additionally, Hannah's Bretzel is bringing back its popular ham sandwich, and Protein Bar has created a new spicy Korean steak bowl that qualifies for the discount.

Founded in Toronto in 2015, Ritual came to Chicago in January 2016 and now has 350 restaurant partners here. It distinguishes itself from other on-demand food apps like UberEats and Postmates in that it is not a delivery service: Instead, customers order through the app and receive an exact time to pick up. Ritual says it eliminates the hassle of waiting in line and manually paying for your food, while also streamlining restaurants' order intake process.

"We're looking to digitize the coffee run or the act of grabbing lunch down the street," says Jim Phillips, Ritual's Chicago general manager. "While Ritual is now focused on dense urban areas including River North, the Loop and the West Loop, he says the company plans to expand "as people get used to ordering with their phones." Ritual has 90,000 customers in Chicago.

Dan Weiss, owner of Dollop Coffee, which has seven Chicago locations, said Ritual helps both his customers and his business. "Our customers enjoy the benefit of time saved with each visit, and its implementation has helped drive record sales volumes," he said in a statement.